Join Exploratorium scientists Paul Doherty and Isabel Hawkins for a live webcast as they share information about the Rosetta Mission, which is due to be "woken up" on January 20th, 2014. Rosetta is a spacecraft en route to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, where it will make the most detailed study of a comet ever attempted.

Exploratorium composer Wayne Grim used the video of the transit to create a sound composition in real time. As the video signal was received by Wayne's computer, a program he wrote converted the signal into a unique aural experience. http://www.waynegrim.com

On August 1, 2008, a total solar eclipse occurred as the new moon moved directly between the sun and the earth. The moon's umbral shadow fell on parts of Canada, Greenland, the Arctic Ocean, Russia, Mongolia, and China. The Exploratorium's eclipse expedition team (our fifth!) Webcast the eclipse live from the remote Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China near the Mongolian border.

On March 29, 2006, a total solar eclipse occurred as the moon moved directly between the earth and the sun. The moon's shadow fell on the earth, first darkening the eastern tip of Brazil, and then moved across the Atlantic Ocean to make landfall in Ghana, Africa. It continued moving northeast through Nigeria, Niger, Libya, Egypt, across the Mediterranean and into Turkey, where an Exploratorium team was waiting.

Celebrate the spring equinox at the Mayan ruins of Chichén Itzá, in the state of Yucatan, Mexico. The alignment of the sun on this day creates the appearance of a shadow, in the form of a serpent, that descends the main staircase of the great pyramid. The Live@Exploratorium crew is there to capture the snake on film and to speak with local archaeologists, archeoastronomers, and solar scientists about this amazing phenomenon.

Chris McKay, Planetary Scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center, has traveled the world seeking Mars-like environments. In the Dry Valleys of Antarctica—his favorite Mars analog on Earth—Dr. McKay discovered a kind of algae living inside rocks porous to light and water. He’ll show us some of these rocks and talk about the physical conditions required for life.

Jonathan Trent, Astrobiologist, NASA Ames Research Center studies "thermophiles," heat-loving microbes inhabiting places once thought too hostile for life, but analogous to environments that might be found on other planets. He discovered that some of these microbes make a protein that appears to stabilize their cell membranes (and may have applications for nanotechnology).

Nathalie Cabrol, Planetary Scientist, Principal Investigator at NASA Ames Research Center and the SETI Institute, looks for Mars analogs in extreme environments on Earth. She found one at the world’s highest lake at Chile’s Licancabur volcano, site of a unique analog to ancient Martian lakes. We chat with Dr. Cabrol as she investigates the life forms at Licancabur.

Webcasts made possible through the generosity of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Jim Clark Endowment for Internet Education, the McBean Family Foundation.

Bandwidth and infrastructure support for connectivity to the California Research and Education Network and to other Internet2-connected networks provided by the Corporation for Educational Networks Initiatives in California (CENIC).